Imaginary Landscapes: Black Mountain College Architecture and Design
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center
September 25, 2026 – January 9, 2027
Pictured: Wooden Plates by Miriam (Mim) Sihvonen, c. 1948. Desk for Black Mountain College Students designed by Josef Albers, c. 1939; Conversation Chair, stool, and side table designed by A. Lawrence Kocher, c. 1942; Studies Building: Summer 1950 by Jacqueline Gourevitch, 1995.
This exhibition traces the far-reaching impact of Black Mountain College’s design philosophy deeply influenced by Bauhaus ideals across disciplines and generations. It will explore how experimental approaches to materials, pedagogy, and collective living reshaped not only how things were made, but how artists, architects, and thinkers understood the relationship between form and function, people and place, and imagination and environment.
At its core, the exhibition asks: How do creative ideas take root in specific places? In turn, how do those places shape the evolution of those ideas? Through these questions, the exhibition will highlight Black Mountain College as both a physical site and a generative force: a place where radical design, interdisciplinary learning, and collaborative experimentation transformed modern art and architecture and continue to inspire new ways of thinking today.
The exhibition includes Black Mountain College artists including Josef Albers, Hazel Larsen Archer, Ruth Asawa, Robert Bliss, Buckminster Fuller, Trude Guermonprez, Karen Karnes, Lawrence Kocher, Alvin Lustig, Dorothea Rockburne, Mim Sihvonen, Sewell Sillman, Peter Voulkos, and more. It also features an immersive reconstructions: a student study room from the historic BMC Studies Building, scale architectural model of the original Studies Building plan by Kocher, and a floating Geodesic dome modeled after Buckminster Fuller’s 1949 dome at BMC. Bridging the past and present are contemporary works by Olafur Eliasson, Beatriz Monteavaro, and Eternal September (William Brittelle, Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo, and more). From physical structures to conceptual frameworks, the exhibition asks you to “step into” BMC’s living legacy.
Imaginary Landscapes is organized by Jeff Arnal, Alice Sebrell, Michael Beggs, Tyler Housholder, and Frédérique Davreux-Hébert, a curatorial fellow made possible through the generous support of the Lyle Bongé Fund, established by the Dusti Bongé Art Foundation.
Related Programs
RECEPTION: Imaginary Landscapes: Black Mountain College Architecture and Design
Friday, October 2, 2026 – 6:30 – 8:30pm
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center {120 College Street}
Free and Open to All
Join us for the public reception of our fall exhibition, Imaginary Landscapes: Black Mountain College Architecture and Design, hosted at BMCM+AC. This event is free and open to all. The reception is presented as part of the annual three-day program, ReVIEWING Black Mountain College International Conference, Co-hosted by BMCM+AC and UNC Asheville, October 2 – 4, 2026.
ReVIEWING 16: Black Mountain College International Conference
October 2 – 4, 2026 | International Conference | Co-hosted by BMCM+AC and UNC Asheville
The annual ReVIEWING Black Mountain College conference is a forum for scholars and artists to contribute original work on topics related to Black Mountain College and its place in cultural history. This year’s three-day program, open to the public, celebrates the opening of the museum’s exhibition Imaginary Landscapes: Black Mountain College Architecture and Design. With presentations focused on figures like Anni Albers, Ruth Asawa, Charles Olson, and more, the 16th Annual ReVIEWING BMC Conference will feature more than 70 scholars, artists, and multidisciplinary researchers throughout the weekend. Highlights include a series of panels celebrating the centenary of the poet Robert Creeley; archival explorations into the history and future of the iconic Black Mountain College Studies Building; and a hands-on workshop with Fritz Horstman exploring the interaction of color. The conference is located at the UNC Asheville Reuter Center, with excursions to BMCM+AC and the historic Lake Eden campus.